Force carbonation problems/questions.

[nduetime]

So I've been kegging now for about 3 batches and I love it. I have been force carbonating and have a couple of question I can't seem to find answers for.

If I were to over shoot my carbonization level or serving pressure, can I just release the pressure in the keg and correct it?

Also, I feel that my beer should be well carbonated but when I pour a glass I'm not getting much visual proof within the body of the beer (carbonation bubbles down within in beer body). I have a large head when I pour (too high of serving pressure?) and it taste carbonated. I'm just unhappy with the visual appearance of the beer.

 

[sonex]

If you over carbonate shut valve off to the keg and vent pressure. let sit for awhile and vent again keep doing this till the carbonation is to your liking. then set regulator to desired pressure and open valve back to the keg. If you have excessive foam you my need more restriction in your lines to balance. this can be done by longer beer lines or smaller dia. lines. another cause of foam could be from the beer in the beer line is warmer than the beer in the keg.

 

[Brulosopher]

So I've been kegging now for about 3 batches and I love it. I have been force carbonating and have a couple of question I can't seem to find answers for.

If I were to over shoot my carbonization level or serving pressure, can I just release the pressure in the keg and correct it?

Also, I feel that my beer should be well carbonated but when I pour a glass I'm not getting much visual proof within the body of the beer (carbonation bubbles down within in beer body). I have a large head when I pour (too high of serving pressure?) and it taste carbonated. I'm just unhappy with the visual appearance of the beer.

To fix overcarbonated beer: disconnect gas-in then pull/press release valve numerous times over a certain period (24 hours, for example) until the carbonation is where you want it.

As far as the second concern goes... how long are you allowing your beer to sit once you hit it with CO2? And what exactly are you hoping to see? A well carbonated beer is a well carbonated beer. If your getting too much head, the likely culprits are either overcarbonation or to high of serving pressure. That said, I sometimes serve as high as 15 psi, and this is about as big as my had gets:





Cheers!!!

 

[nduetime]

I understand fixing the over-carbonation by venting pressure. Thanks for that.

My beer has been on co2 for about 3 weeks now. I must be running too high of serving pressure and/or too short of line. When i fill my glass it's about all head and eventually reduces to about half a glass of beer with a descent size head.

Last night I disconnected the co2 and vented almost all the way down. I poured without any co2 hookup and noticed much less foam. I'll keep fine tuning over a 24 hour period as mentioned, thanks!

 

[Brulosopher]

I understand fixing the over-carbonation by venting pressure. Thanks for that.

My beer has been on co2 for about 3 weeks now. I must be running too high of serving pressure and/or too short of line. When i fill my glass it's about all head and eventually reduces to about half a glass of beer with a descent size head.

Last night I disconnected the co2 and vented almost all the way down. I poured without any co2 hookup and noticed much less foam. I'll keep fine tuning over a 24 hour period as mentioned, thanks!

What psi did you carb at? If 20+ psi for 3 weeks, probably overcarbed... I usually leave it 12-15 for 2 weeks. Also sounds like it could be a beer line problem. Good luck! You'll get it

 

[nduetime]

So I don't have access to cooling the keg. As such, I was force carbonating at a higher pressure to compensate for that. I think I left it on ~20 psi for about a day. then I can't remember if I dropped it down a bit for a day or not. I did disconnect it from co2 after that and only apply the co2 to help serve (probably unnecessary once it's overcarbed for awhile.)

I'm going to purge the keg several times tonight/tomorrow and dial back the serving pressure.

I'm going to force carb another batch tonight and will focus more on the pressure and time it's carbonating.